Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Gladness of the Wholesome: The Buddha’s Teaching on Awakening Joy

With James Baraz recorded on January 15, 2023.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

The Buddha was known as The Happy One. Though Joy is one of the Seven Factors of Awakening, with so much emphasis on working with suffering, joy can sometimes seem frivolous or unspiritual. His teaching on attending to the ‘Gladness Connected with the Wholesome’ is a key aspect of Wise Effort and developing a loving heart. We will practice and explore together this foundation for awakening joy.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Dave Smith

    Mindfulness and the Addiction Economy

    Our devices have become weapons of mass distraction, we have lost the attention economy and now we are living in the addiction economy. Everyone is addicted, we all know it, few will admit it, yet we all seem to accept it. Turning inward and taking an honest look at our dissatisfaction and facing what fuels…

    Read More

  • Daigan Gaither

    Living by Vow

    If we start with the understanding that everyone is living by vow, how can we examine what vows we are following and change to follow the ones that lead to liberation?

    Read More

  • photo of Martin Aylward smiling

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Martin Aylward – Week of 10 February, 2025

    We’re honored to have Martin Aylward offering our Daily Meditation sessions this week. We hope they are nourishing for your practice.

    This week’s theme is: Loving What Is (Whether You Like It Or Not)

    A week of exploring different dimensions of loving awareness, and how we can bring our heart to transforming our experience and understanding

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Christopher Titmuss – Week of 17 November, 2025

    We’re delighted that Christopher Titmuss is guiding our Daily Meditation sessions this week. We hope you find them enriching for your practice.

    This week’s theme is: Going Beyond the World

    Dharma practitioners tend to spend much time giving attention to practise. This is a worthwhile endeavour but it seems to go on and on until death. We can conclude that practice means improving the quality of our life, reducing suffering in our lives and showing kindness and compassion to others. Yes, this is significant. It is a credit to dedicated practitioners committed to exploration of such experiences as a way of life. This is not the core purpose of the Dharma but an important preparation for Going Beyond the World.
    We have to understand what we mean by the world and going beyond the world.
    In these five sessions, we will explore the core purpose in diverse ways. Talks, guided meditations and Q&A form the backbone of the inquiry. Every session will offer everyday examples of the theme of the session to enable seeing the world and confirming going beyond the world.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • Sophie Boyer

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Sophie Boyer – Week of Nov 13, 2023

    This week’s topic is “Entering Fall”. The autumn season can be a challenging (transitional) time of the year with darkness, rain, wind, mist, and a sense that the cycle of life is coming slowly to an end. Paradoxically, nature also offers intense scents and colors before heading into the coldness and barrenness of winter. This week is an invitation to experience autumn within us. A time to bring the mind momentarily to a stop and explore what can nurture and provide a refuge for the heart. Let’s explore the sparkling colors of autumn’s heart and mind together.

    Read More

  • Kaira Jewel Lingo

    There is no Way to Peace, Peace is the Way

    As the planet heats up, and hostilities flare between groups and nations, how do we touch and embody the possibility of peace, right here and now? Peace in the future is founded on peace in the present moment. The same is true of justice, and liberation. These are not things we have to wait for…

    Read More